Official: Dungey to KTM Supercross Team

The AMA paddocks were thick with rumors of Ryan Dungey joining his former team manager Roger DeCoster at KTM, and those rumors were confirmed Saturday.

KTM officially announced that Dungey will ride for the Red Bull KTM Factory Race Team for the 2012 and 2013 AMA Pro Supercross and Motocross championships.

Dungey’s contract with the Rockstar Makita Suzuki team was complete after this season, and the speculation immediately began that he would join the KTM team with his longtime former manager DeCoster.

Ryan Dungey (Red Bull KTM SX-F 450) says: "I’m looking forward to riding for the new Red Bull/KTM team and working again with Roger. I am excited to start something new and am ready for the challenge.

"I like the way that KTM has backed Roger since he made the switch last year and I appreciate KTM’s goal of working hard to develop their race team to earn championships. I am making this switch to win races and work toward getting that championship for KTM."

DeCoster joined the KTM factory team in September of 2010, the year the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer released the SX models. The legendary Motocross racer DeCoster looks forward to making the KTM a top contender with the help of Dungey.

Roger DeCoster (Red Bull/KTM Team Manger) says: "I am really happy to have Ryan Dungey join our team. He and I have worked together for several years so we know each other well. Our past should help us get the best out of each other and put us in position to be legit championship contenders in the big bike class.

"Everyone at the factory and here on the U.S. side is very excited to start working with Ryan and see where the future will take us."

And considering Dungey’s past, the future should be optimistic for KTM. The 21-year-old Minnesota native won began dominating in 2009 with his AMA Supercross Lites Western Regional title, and then that year’s AMA Pro Motocross Championship 250cc class crown.

Dungey then raced on the 2009 Motocross des Nations where he was one of three members aboard the winning U.S. Team. In 2010, he became the first rider in history to win both the AMA Supercross and AMA Pro Motocross Championship in his rookie year. He again went on to lead the 2010 Motocross des Nations team to victory on U.S soil in Lakewood, Colo.

Dungey added one more win to his career as he and the US team captured yet another Motocross des Nations victory in France this past September.

Dungey’s first outing on the Red Bull/KTM Factory Team will be at Angel Stadium Jan. 7, 2012, for the opening round of the 2012 AMA Supercross Championship, in which he’ll compete on the KTM 450 SX-F in the premier class.

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